In current cataract surgeries, first, a small incision is formed on an eyeball, and then a central portion of an anterior capsule of the eyeball is ablated by a surgical instrument inserted from the incision. Next, a phacoemulsification hand-tip connected to an ultrasonic phacoemulsification apparatus is inserted into the eyeball through the incision, to crush (emulsify) a clouded crystalline lens to remove (aspirate) it. Further, cortex which has not been removed by the ultrasonic phacoemulsification apparatus is removed using an I/A tip (irrigation aspiration tip) which is connected to the ultrasonic phacoemulsification apparatus and inserted through the incision into the eyeball. In this way, an artificial intraocular lens (hereinafter simply referred to as “lens”) is placed at a position of the removed clouded crystalline lens and cortex. When the lens is inserted into the eyeball from the incision, the lens is deformed to be small by folding it or the like by utilizing flexibility of the lens.
In an actual surgery, an insertion device is frequently used which deforms the lens set in a main body of the device into a small shape while moving the lens in the main body by a pushing shaft, and pushes out the lens into the eyeball from a front end opening of an insertion cylinder (nozzle) inserted into the incision. Such an insertion device is used not only for the cataract surgery but also for a lens inserting surgery for an eyesight correction medical treatment.
When the lens is inserted into the eyeball by using the insertion device, a viscoelastic material such as sodium hyaluronate is introduced into the main body of the insertion device as a lubricant such that the lens is smoothly moved and deformed in the insertion device (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-351196). Moreover, the viscoelastic material introduced into the eyeball through the insertion cylinder has a function of spreading a space in an anterior chamber of the eyeball into which the lens will be inserted. In addition, it has been recently required to use inexpensive physiologic saline in place of the viscoelastic material.
Meanwhile, when the ultrasonic phacoemulsification apparatus is used for removing the crystalline lens from the eyeball, insertion and withdrawal of the ultrasonic phacoemulsification apparatus (that is, of the phacoemulsification hand-tip and the I/A tip) with respect to the incision formed on the eyeball are performed at least twice. Moreover, when the lens is inserted into the eyeball by using the lens insertion device, insertion and withdrawal of the ultrasonic phacoemulsification apparatus and the insertion device with respect to the incision are performed at least three times in total. Such repetition of insertion and withdrawal with respect to the incision increases a burden on the eyeball.